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Over the past month, there’s been a surge of interest in
second passports: Google trends indicates that the
keyword search has grown like a weed since the beginning of the
month, no doubt due to the re-election of President Obama.

Here’s the thing, though… obtaining a second passport is no
panacea. And it ain’t easy either. Acquiring one takes a
combination of time, money, and flexibility… or very
lucky ancestry. I’ll explain–

I. ANCESTRY

If you’re fortunate enough to be descended from Irish or Polish
grandparents, you may be able to obtain citizenship in these
countries at minimal time and cost by working through the
consulate nearest you.

Certain unique cases of ethnicity can also land you a passport–

1. Israel. Are you Jewish? Are you willing to
be? Israel’s Law of Return entitles all Jews to become residents
of Israel, and eventually obtain citizenship.

2. Spain. Even more specifically, are you a
Sephardic Jew?

If so, the Spanish government announced last week that
Sephardic Jews would receive instant Spanish
citizenship; Ferdinand and Isabella (the same folks who
funded Christopher Columbus) expelled all Sephardic Jews from
Spain more than 500 years ago, and apparently the government is
now trying to make amends.

3. Hungary. In 2010, the government of Hungary
passed an new immigration law streamlining the citizenship
process for anyone who can demonstrate at least one ancestor had
once lived within the territory of the defunct Austro-Hungarian
Empire.

This vast territory, which existed from 1867 until the end of
World War I, encompasses most of modern day Austria, Hungary,
Ukraine, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Croatia, and Serbia.

II. FLEXIBILITY

Are you willing to get married? Adopt a child? Serve in a foreign
military? Yes, it sounds extreme… which is why I said that
obtaining a second passport is no easy feat.

1. Serve in the French or Israeli militaries and
receive citizenship at the end of your service.

2. Marry someone from Ecuador, Ireland or
Singapore and you can apply for naturalization after two
years.

3. Become financially responsible for a Brazilian
child and you can apply for naturalization after just
one year.

III. MONEY

Citizenship by investment programs have existed for quite some
time, the most famous of which are in St. Kitts / Nevis (about
$285,000 total expense for a single applicant, $340,000 per
couple) and Dominica ($135,000 / $215,000 for a single and couple
respectively).

Yet with so many countries (particularly in Europe) going
bankrupt, governments are desperate to raise
revenue. Several have resorted to ‘selling’ residency to
foreigners in exchange for an investment in real estate or
government bonds.

1. Ireland. New rules grant residency in
exchange for investments in the country, including a 1 million
euro government bond purchase; you can apply for naturalization
after five years.

2. Portugal. The new “Golden Residence Program”
offers residency in exchange for 500,000 euro real estate
purchase. You can apply for naturalization after six years.
Language proficiency is required.

3. Hungary. A new bill in Hungary offers to
grant residency to foreigners who purchase at least 250,000 euros
worth of government bonds; you can apply for naturalization after
eight years, and language proficiency is required.

4. Spain. A proposal is on the table to grant
residency in exchange for 160,000 euro real estate purchase;
naturalization timeline is still unknown.

IV. TIME

If your spouse won’t let you marry a foreign national, and you
don’t have the liquidity to buy a home in Europe, there are also
options where, if you spend enough time on the ground, you can
qualify to apply for naturalization.

The critical question is how much time you actually have to spend
on the ground in order to qualify to apply for naturalization. In
Canada, for example, you must have your boots on the ground for
at least 1,095 days within a four-year period in
order to qualify to apply for naturalization.

Singaporean and Panamanian naturalization procedures, on the
other hand, have no specific time requirement.

V. BOTTOM LINE — IS IT WORTH IT?

In total candor, there is no perfect passport
solution that’s cheap, fast, high quality, and easy to
acquire. At least, not a legal option. And given that a second
passport is supposed to enhance your freedom, risking jail time
by acquiring illegitimate documents defeats the purpose.

Moreover, spending large sums of money on acquiring a passport
may not be the wisest use of funds either.

For example, if you’re concerned about the future of your country
and think a second passport will be your ‘ticket out’, it may be
a wiser course of action to establish residency in a safe, stable
country instead, and then allocate the funds you would have used
on the passport to purchase productive property and gold bullion.

Just remember that the number one reason, by far, for obtaining a
second passport is to have a fallback optionin case you ever want to renounce your current
citizenship. More on this in a future letter.